Summer Harvest postage stamps USA

The stamp depicts images of corn, tomatoes, cantaloupes, and watermelons inspired from Vintage product advertising of 19th and early 20th century crate labels, seed packets, and catalogs.

The stamp art is special reminiscent of vintage crate labels used by producers to distinguish their produce from others.

With the development of railroads between the East and West Coasts in the 1870s, growers in agricultural areas were able to ship their products to various locations across the country.

Summer Harvest

Corn
Corn production plays a major role in the economy of the US with 96,000,000 acres of land reserved for corn production.

The US is ranked first in the world in corn production, and 20% of its annual yield is exported.

Tomatoes
The tomato is the edible, often red fruit commonly known as a tomato plant. The tomato is consumed in diverse ways, including raw, as an ingredient in many dishes, sauces, salads, and drinks.

While it is botanically a fruit, it is considered a vegetable for culinary purposes.

Cantaloupes
Cantaloupe is the most popular variety of melon in the United States. Cantaloupes range in weight from 500 g to 5 kg (1 to 10 lb).

Cantaloupe is normally eaten as a fresh fruit, as a salad, or as a dessert with ice cream or custard.

Watermelons
Watermelon is a vine-like flowering plant originally from southern Africa. It is a large, sprawling annual plant with coarse, hairy pinnately-lobed leaves and white to yellow flowers. It is grown for its edible fruit.

For commercial plantings, one beehive per acre is the minimum recommendation by the US Department of Agriculture for pollination of conventional, seeded varieties.